4 Stories Down, 4 Stories Up

Author(s): Sara Elizabeth

larger image

Told from the point of view of an elevator ride, Samantha explores the ups and downs of her relationship with another woman. Will Samantha get everything she's ever wanted on the 4th floor, or lose it all in The Lobby? A unique twist on the girl-meets-girl tale.

Excerpt

The 4th Story

The first time we ever kissed was on the fourth story of a building. I wish it had been more romantic—like, maybe the eleventh story or maybe the fifty-ninth. But it wasn’t. It, in fact, was my room and it could have probably been better. Several weeks down the line, maybe a month or two later, we practiced what we thought would be great first kisses. It was something cute and funny and I liked it about her. We never took it too seriously, which was the best part, because from the beginning, it was already too serious.

It was over chips with guacamole and margaritas (our second date) that I knew we would be perfect together. After the first round, we were already buzzed, and she was mixing her drink with a straw and a spoon. She pulled the spoon out and the straw was stuck to it. She smiled at me and said, “Look. A party trick!” We both started laughing and then somehow, my new white watch ended up in the salsa bowl. I didn’t care. I didn’t care about the watch or the fact that she and I went to high school together, which should have made things weird. It didn’t. It made things more interesting—somehow more familiar and special. Like maybe it was fate. I didn’t care that she was a stoner even though I hated drugs. I didn’t even care that she was a Republican for all the wrong reasons. I cared about the party trick. And I cared about the way her eyes lit up when she smiled at me. And the way she hid her thumb in between our palms when we held hands because she had “club thumbs” and was always self-conscious about them.